Muffler for internal combustion engine



April 2, 1957 H. c. GIAMBRUNO MUFFLER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 28, 1955 INVENTOR. HENRY C. G/AMBRUVC BY W I M; (0041/ Arromgrs United States Patent MUFFLER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Henry Clay Giambruno, Oakland, Calif. Application April 28, 1955, Serial No. 504,589

3 Claims. (Cl. 60-29) This invention relates generally to a mufiler for removing CO from the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine and has for one of its objects the provision of simple, economically made and installed means for-eifectively removing the CO from the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine without reducing the efficiency of such engine.

One of the problems faced at the present time in in dustrial centers and also in populous congested areas, is the pollution of the atmosphere with difierent gases, one of the chief contributors being the internal combustion engines in automotive vehicles that discharge considerable quantities of poisonous CO, and other complete and incomplete products of combustion.

It is an object of the present invention to entrap and remove the objectionable products of combustion from the discharge gas of internal combustion engines, and at the same time to mufile the exhaust noise of such engines. 'Ilhis result is accomplished at no increase in back pressure in the x-ehaust pipe, but instead, there is an actual reduction in such back pressure as compared with that which is produced by conventional mufilers.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a part sectional and part elevational view of the invention with part of the fire wall and instrument panel of an automobile being indicated.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a typical installation of the invention in an automobile, the automobile being shown in dot-dash lines.

In detail, the mufller illustrated in the drawings comprises a horizontally elongated housing generally designated 1, which housing has a bottom wall 2 (Fig. 2) a top Wall 3, and opposed end walls 4, 5. The housing may be substantially elliptical in cross sectional contour, as seen in Pig. 2, with the flattened sides horizontal, or it may be cylindrical or of any other suitable contour, the elliptical cross sectional contour merely conforms substantially to present practice, but it is not essential to the accomplishment of the desired results.

An exhaust pipe 7 extends from the exhaust manifold to the mufiler and an end portion 8 of said exhaust manifold extends through the end wall into said mufiler and terminates in a closed end 9 adjacent to the end wall 4.

Preferably, the exhaust pipe enters the muffler through end wall adjacent to the upper edge of the latter, and centrally between its side edges. Then it curves downwardly at 10, after entering the muifier, and the major portion 11 that is within the muffier, extends along and adjacent to the bottom wall 2 and longitudinally of the muffler, but spaced above said bottom wall.

The lower side of the portion 11 may be provided with one row or several rows of discharge openings 12 (Fig. 2). The openings in the row-s, where several are provided, after preferably in staggered relation, and the total area of these openings preferably exceeds the total cross sectional area of the portion 11 by an amount suflicient to prevent any objectionable back pressure of gas in exhaust pipe 7 during operation of the engine.

A discharge pipe 15 extends at one end through the end wall 4 and into the mufiler, and the portion 16 of said pipe 15 that is within the muffler terminates in an open end positioned adjacent to but spaced from the end wall 5. A filter screen 17 may, if desired, be placed over the open end of portion 16.

This portion 16 of the exhaust pipe is preferably positioned against or substantially against the top wall 3 and may be secured to the latter by any suitable means. The pipe 15 outside the mutfier 1 may extend to the rear end of the automobile (Fig. 3) in the same manner as a conventional mnfiler.

Inasmuch as the mufiler itself, insofar as its shape and size are concerned, is comparable to a conventional mufiler, and as the exhaust and discharge pipes 7, 16 are substantially the same in appearance and position as the conventional exhaust and discharge pipes in an automobile. they ntay be secured to such vehicle in the same manner as the mufiler and exhaust pipes have been secured. It is, of course, to be understood that the invention is not to be restricted insofar as use is concerned, for the reason that it is adapted to be used in connection with any internal combustion engine.

If desired, a shield or battle 20 may be positioned over and secured to the portion 11 of the exhaust pipe 7. This b aille, when used, is disposed horizontally over the portion 11, but does not extend to the sides of the housing 1 (Fig. 2) thus providing passageways 21 between the edges of the blaffie and the side walls of the housing for exhaust gas. This baffle may be generally of inverted U-shlape so that any material that might otherwise lodge on top of it will tend to slide down the same to the passageways 21.

Within the housing 1 and covering the apertured portion 11 of the exhaust pipe is a bed of loose particles of siliceous material 22. Preferably the size of these particles does not exceed approximately 30 mesh size, although they may be smaller, and the top of the bed is preferably about midway between the top and bottom walls, 2, 3 and spaced a substantial distance below the discharge pipe 16.

The siliceous material of this bed may be washed sand and silica gel in the ratio of from about /3 to /2 silica gel to to /z sand, by volume. The preferred ratio under normal conditions would be /a silica gel to /5 washed sand.

In the operation of the mufiler, a certain amount of water will usually be exhausted with the gas, and this water will be held in the interstices between the particles of siliceous material and will be absorbed by the silica gel.

It is desirous that the bed of siliceous material should be damp, but it is preferable that there should not be a 316d of Water in the mufiler.

In order to insure adequate moisture, a source 23, of water is preferably provided in the form of a receptacle secured to the fire wall and under the hood of the automobile and this carried distilled water.

A pipe 24 extends from the receptacle 23 into the exhaust pipe 7 at a point adjacent to the housing 5, and the end 25 of said pipe 24 that is within said pipe 7 is directed so that its open end faces the same direction as the flow of gas in said pipe 7. A valve 26 in pipe 24 is adapted to be actuated for opening and closing the same by a control wire 27 leading to a hand control button 28 on the instrument board 29. The valve may be actuated to permit drops to be fed intermittently into the exhaust pipe for discharge of moisture into the bed 3 of siliceous material, or any desired fiow of water can be produced.

It is desirable to remove=the bed of siliceous material at relatively long intervals of time. A discharge opening is providedinthe bottom of the housing 2'and'thus is closed by a removable plug 30. By removing the plug :Zll'ld operating the engine, the siliceous material will readily be blown out of the housing-through-thedischarge opening.

A conduit 31. extends from end wall 5 to a-point under the hood of the automobile, which conduit has a removable cap 32 closing its upper end. This upper end is at a level above that of the housing 1, :and the point at which theconduit opensinto thehousing 1 is-preferably at aboutthe desired level of the bed of siliceousmaterial. To replenish the-siliceous material the'cap 32 is removed and the material is pouredinto the conduit 31 for passage into the housing.

In operation, it has been found that the exhaust gas from the pipe 15 is-virtually free from C0 when the gas is passed-through the mufiier, and tests conducted to determine the bacx pressure in the exhaust pipe 7 show less back pressure than that which exists where the conventional muflier is used. Also the present rnufiier is more eficctivc in silencing the exhaust noise than with the conventional muffler.

The provision of the shield or bafiie 20, in combination with the positioning of the portion '11 of the exhaust pipe adjacent to the bottom of the housing 1, effectively insures against the siliceous material uncovering the portion 11, as might otherwise occur, particularly in the case of a very abrupt stop or when the housing is tilted during the time the vehicle is climbing or descending a hill. The material quickly levels itself when the housing is anywhere near level, should the material move to any degree to one end or the other of the housing.

I claim:

1. In combination with an internal combustion engine having an exhaust manifold, a "horizontally elongated housing, having a top wall, bottom wall and opposite end walls, an exhaust pipe extending from said exhaust manifold through one end of said housing to a point adjacent to the opposite end of said housing, the major portion of the pipe that is within said housing being disposed adjacent to said bottom of said housing and generally downwardly directed openings formed in said major portion of said pipe, 21 body of relatively small particles ofloose siliceous material on said bottom wall covering said major portion of said pipe, a discharge pipe extending through the opposite end of said housing spaced above the level of said bed and extendingto a point adjacent to said one end of said housing, an opening forgas formed in said discharge pipe at the end thereof thatris adjacent to said one wall, a tube extending into said exhaust pipe at a point between said major -walls, an exhaust pipe "extending-from said exhaust manifold through one end of said housing to a point adjacent to the oposite end of said housing, the major portion of the pipe that is within said housing being disposed adjacent to said bottom of said housing and generally downwardly directed openings formed in said major portion of said pipe, a body of relatively small particles of loose siliceous .material 011 said bottom wall covering said major portion of said pipe, a discharge pipe extending through the opposite end of saidhousing spaced above the level of said bed and extending to a point adjacent to said one end of said housing, an :opening .for gas formed in said dicharge pipe at the .end thereof that is adjacent to said one wall, an opening formed in said bottom wall for removal of the particles of said bed from said housing, and a removable closure closing said last mentioned opening, a filling conduit communicating with the interior of said housing through said one end wall for'filling said housing with particles of siliceous material to a level disposed between said major portion of said exhaust pipe and said opening in said discharge pipeand a closure for said conduit.

3. In combination with an internal combustion engine having an exhaust manifold, a horizontally elongated housing, having a top wall, bottom wall and opposite end walls, an exhaust pipe extending from said exhaust manifold through one end of said housing to a point adjacent to the opposite end of said housing, the major portion of the pipe that is within said housing being disposed adjacent to said bottom of said housing and generally downwardly directed openings formed in said major portion of said pipe, a body of relatively small particles of :loose siliceous material on said bottom wall covering said major portion of said pipe, a discharge pipe extending through the opposite end of said housing spaced above the level of said bed and extending to a point adjacent to said one end of said housing, an opening for gas formed in said discharge pipe at the end thereof that is adjacent to said one wall, an opening formed in said bottom wall'for removal of the particles of said bed from said housing, and a removable closure closing said last mentioned opening, a filling conduit communicating with the interior of said housing through said one end wall for filling said housing with. particles of siliceous material to a level disposed between said major portion of said exhaust pipe and said opening in said discharge pipe and a closure for said conduit, .a horizontally extending battle over said major portion of said exhaust pipe and to opposite sides of said major portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,071,119 Harger Feb. 16, 1937 2,216,763 Boyce Oct. 8, 1940 2,569,895 Main-Smith et a1. Oct. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 108,224 Australia Aug. 8, 1939 

